The conventional progressive wisdom is that the Trump Administration will be bad for cities and for transit users. But in recent decades, a unified Republican government has been better for public transit than a divided government.

An efficient and equitable transport system must be diverse to serve diverse travel demands. Planners need better tools to quantify and communicate the benefits of walking, cycling and public transit to sometimes skeptical decision makers.

"A two-block stretch of downtown Los Altos shouts out the proof: Two dozen hair salons, nail parlors and clothing boutiques dominate the landscape with nary a sports bar in sight. 'There used to be a men's store,' [Los Altos, Mayor Megan] Satterlee said. 'It used to exist but it just kind of died out at some point.'

The numbers rang true to three 18-year-old dudes - Justin Carella, Mitch Parsons, and Brian Isbell - happily hanging out recently in Los Altos. In neighboring Mountain View, where Isbell lives, the Census Bureau says there are about 125 men for every 100 women."

"The gender imbalance may be causing relationship problems at one end of Silicon Valley, but relationship problems may be causing the gender imbalance at the other. In Los Altos, for example, census data shows there are more than twice as many divorced or separated women as men.

'Those are family towns,' said [Hans Johnson, a demographer for the Public Policy Institute of California]. 'It might be likely that when people get divorced, the wife ends up with primary custody of the kids and the house, and the man ends up moving out.'"

Planning: A professional practice and an academic study focused on the future of built environments and connected natural environments—from the smallest towns to the largest cities and everything in between.

Planetizen: The independent resource for people passionate about planning and related fields.